Rush Hour deserves to take a seat amongst one of the best buddy cop films of all time, and that’s in nice half because of the performances of lead actors Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. The 2 stars are down-right incredible collectively, and so they share a lot of nice moments collectively within the franchise’s authentic 1998 installment. One such scene includes Tucker’s Det. James Carter scolding Chan’s Chief Inspector Lee for touching his radio. Because it seems, over 27 years later, Chan nonetheless doesn’t perceive the enduring line featured in that scene.
The second in query, which may be discovered on YouTube, occurs as Carter and Lee are cruising Los Angeles within the latter’s automobile and Lee activates the radio, after which he delightfully listens to the Seaside Boys. Carter then bluntly expresses disbelief over Lee’s actions, emphatically telling him, “Don’t you ever contact a Black man’s radio!” It’s simply one of many funniest exchanges in the complete movie, and I at all times chuckle at it each time I rewatch the movie.
Respectfully, I can’t assist however chuckle a bit when listening to Jackie Chan’s feedback about not understanding the gag. The actor, who’s been selling the 2025 film launch Karate Child: Legends, took half in a wide-ranging interview with Those who was shared to Instagram. Whereas reflecting on Rush Hour, which nonetheless stands as one among Chan’s greatest films, didn’t mince phrases when expressing his confusion over the radio-related second:
After the film completed, I nonetheless don’t prefer it. As a result of I simply don’t perceive plenty of issues. The tradition is completely completely different. The individuals laughing, ‘By no means contact a Black man’s radio.’ I simply… ‘Why? Why so humorous?’ I simply don’t perceive! [It’s a] completely completely different tradition. I used to be very disillusioned.
The revered film icon is right in that Carter’s brutally sincere line has to do with variations in tradition – and never simply merely common American customs. Carter’s visceral response falls drastically in step with Black tradition, by which there’s an important emphasis on being considerate of how one interacts with or handles one other particular person’s possessions. Sure, individuals of varied walks of life exhibit comparable habits, however this concept – within the context of Rush Hour – is conveyed as a touchstone of African American tradition. And, being a Black man myself, I can undoubtedly attest to the significance of that precept.
Jackie Chan later talked about in his interview that by starring in additional American movies and residing within the states on and off over time, he’s grow to be considerably extra attuned to Western tradition. (As he admitted although, he’s solely come to know “slightly bit” extra.) So it appears whereas Chan was entertaining the plenty with Shanghai Midday, Shanghai Nights, The Tuxedo and extra, the manufacturing necessities of the film benefitted him from a private standpoint.
Whereas the Drunken Grasp icon continues to supply American films, there’s been hypothesis as as to whether he and Chris Tucker may lastly make Rush Hour 4. Each stars appear enthusiastic about presumably having the ability to make one other sequel. Tucker expressed enthusiasm when requested concerning the venture a number of years in the past and, only in the near past, his amiable co-star additionally mentioned a fourth film whereas explaining what made the 2007 threequel disappointing.
I’d personally be all the way down to see each Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan, who nonetheless does his personal stunts, reprise their well-known characters for one more bombastic and hilarious blockbuster. Ought to that occur, I’d hope to see extra cultural misunderstandings between Lee and Carter. Additionally, I’d hope that, for Chan’s sake, he’d be within the jokes extra so than he was when he filmed the fan-favorite radio scene.